Clothes-pin



(No Model.)

T. J. GORDON. CLOTHES PIN.

No. 520,957. I Pat efited June 5, 1894.

TTTTTT IDNAL LrmoeRAF-mm cam-ANY.

ATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. GORDON, OF EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO THIRDS TO D. W. MOORE, OF SAME PLACE, AND R. J. MARCH, OF LOWER RIDGE, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHES-PIN.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 520,957, dated June 5, 1894.

Application filed October '7, 1893.

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, THOMAS J. GORDON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Eureka Springs, in the county of Carroll and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in Clothes- Pins'; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in 'the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this specification.

Figure 1 of the drawings is afront view of the invention showing part of a line with cloth secured thereto and Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of the pin.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in clothes pins, and is designed to provide a simple, convenient, and effective article of this character formed from a single piece of wire; and the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates a section of a clothes line in connection with which I have shown two of my improved pins. Said pin is formed from a single piece of wire, bent at its central portion to form an'eye or coil a which engages the line. From each end portion of said coil the wire is bent upwardly at substantially right angles, forming the two parallel arms I) I). From these arms the two branches of the wire are bent horizontally in opposite directions and substantially parallel with the plane of the eye or coil a, forming the arms 0 0. At the extremity of each of the arms 0, c, the respective branches of the wire are bent downwardly, forming each an arm 61 substantially parallel with the arms I), b, and extending down to about the plane of the eye or coil a. At this point each branch of the wire is extended horizontally with an upward curve, and is doubled back upon itself, forming a foot 6 and carried upwardly, and horizontally, parallel with the arm d, and the arm 0, to about the central portion of the latter where it is caused to engage said arm' Serial No. 487,467. (No model.)

with a turn or twistf, from which it is extended upwardly, and over in the planeof I the line, forming the arm g.-

The two portions of the pin at opposite sides of the central eye or coil b, are counterparts of each other, as will appear from the drawings and the above description, the double arms forming each a spring actuated foot e arranged to bear on the line. The arms 9 it will be observed form levers by which the v feet 6 may be raised from the line. By pressing said levers toward each other, both of the feet may be raised simultaneously from bearing contact with the line, or either lever may be operated independently to raise one foot only. Itwill alsobe observed thatthebranches of the pin are raised to a considerable distance above the line, and'out of the way of the clothes, which are engaged only by the feet 6, e. Anotherimportant feature of the 1nvention consists in the use made of the end portions of the wire forming the pin. These end portions, instead of being carried back along the wire where they would be liable to catch the clothes are bent upwardly in the manner above described, and are utilized to form the handles or levers. The manner in which these end portions are bent around the arms 0, 0, gives the handles an increased leverage upon the feet. I

A furtherimportant feature consists in the fact that the two arms b, I), leave the central coil at opposite sides of the line, bringing the adjacent end portions of the two branches of the pin out of the plane of each other, so that when the feet are raised, the two branches can pass each other. By this arrangement, the two branches of the pin need not be so far from each other.

The construction of the present pin, as above described, is such that the arms or branches bear on the line only at the feet 9, e, so that when the clothes are pushed under the feet, they are securely clamped to the line at this point, and cannot easily be disengaged except by the intentional raising of the feet.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

The herein described improved clothes pin formed from wire, and having two similar opposite branches, one upon each side of a cenor lever, the armsbot the respective branches tral eye or coil for the line, said branches leaving said eye or coil at opposite sides of consisting each of a vertical arm I), a hori the line whereby the two branches are zontal arm 0 extending from the upper end brought in different planes, substantlally as I5 5 of the arm I), and at a considerable distance specified.

above the line, a depending arm at terminat- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in ing in a foot c one of whose branches is eX- presence of two Witnesses. tended back parallel with the arms (Z and c T- GORDON- to about the central portion of the latter Witnesses:

[0 where it is twisted around the said arm 0, and A. DAVIS,

thence extended upwardly to form a handle B. E. VVOODRUFF. 

